stay away from the dirt scented gatorade

2005-01-06 / 5:41 p.m.

Turkish Delight may very well be the most disgusting candy man has. Granted, I�ve only tasted one brand of the so-called �treat,� and it was covered in chocolate, but I�m going to go ahead and stick with my original judgment of it: nasty. It reminds me of spiced Vaseline. Okay, now I�m looking up what�s in Turkish delight, and while I�m finding various recipes, the key ingredients appear to be cream of tartar, sugar, and various flavorings�generally rosewater. I don�t understand! These recipe components are innocuous enough, what makes the finished product taste like ass? Perhaps it is the particular variety that was so fucking gross. Anyone have any insight? Perhaps the kind I bought for Roger was manufactured as some sort of hoax to shore up racism against the Turks. God, it was disgusting.

Since Roger didn�t get a proper New Year�s Eve, we celebrated with Kyle and Kristen Tuesday night. I got pretty drunk, about as drunk as I go without falling asleep or vomiting, and enjoyed myself. I also learned how to throw a football. Kristen made a highly tasty breakfast the next morning.

I thought I wanted to write an update, but I�ve kind of lost my motivation. meh.

who are you calling an auld aquaintance!?

2005-01-01 / 11:08 p.m.

And so another year begins. My annual Kroger Plus savings tally has begun anew; seeing �annual Kroger Plus Savings $1.43� makes the year seem like a fresh new start, full of possibilities�and value! The battle of 2005 began today. The wheels are turning in an effort to fulfill all those things I arbitrarily chose to resolve yesterday.

I rung in the new year at a party thrown by the gregarious Bobby, friend of Teamie McAwesome, and fantastic host. Initially, the idea of going to a new year�s eve party in Mayretta seemed kind of retarded, but his parents were out of town, and his house was fabulous. Those who I knew there were all friendly, and it had most of the components necessary for a successful NYE party: Alcohol, fireworks, diversion (pool and pingpong), alcohol, friendly people, and alcohol. I didn�t get all that inebriated�Roger had to work the next day, so we had to drive to Athens last night. Obviously, Roger couldn�t get plastered (being DD and having to work the next day), so in a show of solidarity, I didn�t get stupidly drunk either. True to form though, I did consume quite a bit (2 jello shots (or was it 3?), a chocolate cake shot, a few sips of cheap champagne, and some monstrous concoction Kristen and I devised using mango rum and a fruit juice cocktail) and still maintained what little grace I possess when sober. Driving back to Athens and spending the first with Rog (R j) was actually very pleasant.

Crap. Remember when �2005� seemed so fucking far away?! I bet those of you who graduated high school in 2001 know where I�m coming from�.we were all like, �Yeah, I�m going to graduate college in 2005�, and that seemed absurdly far off to me at least. I remember Eric C. giddily pointing out the line in �The Music Man� (which was our school�s musical my senior year) where what�s his name says he graduated with the �Gold Medal Class of �05.� I also remember when I was 13 or 14�.they were re-releasing the original star wars trilogy in theaters as some sort of promotion to the decision to make Episodes I, II, and III, the last of which would be released in 2005. Paul H. and I were talking about the movies, and I remember remarking that 2005 seemed absurdly far away. Yet, here it is. I�m about to walk with the gold medal class (though not as a professor of Music, nor from the Gary Indiana Conservatory). and the third trainwreck of a Starwars movie will be out in a few months. Scary, scary.

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And then I found ten dollars. Whatever.

2004

2004-12-30 / 4:08 p.m.

Little to write about as of late. Earlier this evening, a tried to write a bit, but only ended up producing some hackneyed crap and kind of gave in. I rode the clich� train all the way to scribbling some new year�s resolutions with more substance than �be nicer� and �lose twenty pounds.� Debating whether to put them up or not--posting them makes them harder to ignore come December 2005 should I fail. Also, there�s the fact that making new year�s resolutions is dumb. Last year I posted that I was keeping resolutions to myself, but that was probably just a cop out: I either couldn�t think of anything good, or was embarrassed as to what I did resolve to accomplish.

Anyway, I thought a short �year in review� would be more fun to write anyway. And, you know, this is my journal, so I can do what I want. Oh, also note�.this is going to be a retrospective of public-journal-appropriate things. So if you�re sitting out there in readerland thinking, �Man, I can�t believe she didn�t write about that wild drunken orgy we had on the roof of the nursing home�.the one where they slathered me with orange marmalade!,� don�t despair; I still remember our special night of sexual debauchery, trespassing, and bitter preserves�.I just don�t think it�s suitable reading for public consumption.
Last year�s retrospective:

Despite the current bitching, looking back on 2003, it was a pretty great year. I inherited a nicer car, which is now equipped with a happy, happy bobble head. I proved the doubters wrong, and confirmed spending a semester in Argentina. I learned to jog three miles without stopping. I purchased Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix within the first ten minutes it was available. I got a job that I actually really really like. I turned 21. I wore an insane hot pink wig. I took two trips to New York City, and one to Boston. I had lots of fun with friends, and made several new friends to have fun with too! I fell in love. Looking back on all the fun, it makes me feel like an ass to complain about my life. I'm a lucky, lucky, chick.

New experiences of 2004: OMG, guys. another unordered list
• The obvious first mention goes to my semester in Argentina. I left the relatively secure environ of �The College� to travel to a country where I spoke the native language like a handicapped toddler. Not only did I go, but I made it work and I learned a lot of stuff.
• Visited Iguazu Falls, The Andes Mountains, Uruguay, Washington DC (as a grownup), San Martin and Bariloche. (::singing:: one of these vacations is not like the other, one of these trips just doesn�t belong�.)
• Reading my own creative writing in public (albeit a very small public)
• Went to a big fucking street party for St. Patrick�s day that spanned something like 4 city blocks.
• My hair? Straight?!
• Eating at a President Grant-themed buffet restaurant. In Argentina.
• Got my legs waxed
• Took an introductory ballet class.
• Smoked cloves.
• Went entire days without speaking English.

Most important music of 2004: Ben Folds Five (Ben Folds inclusive).

(English language) Albums I obtained, burned copies and legal ones: (Keep in mind, CDs in BsAs were super cheap, and bootlegs were even better. The length of this list makes me look like I�ve spent a lot on music this year, but that isn�t really the case. Most of these are copies, and most of the ones that aren�t weren�t full price, I�m a used CD junkie.) �Emily Mix 7� (by Joe); �The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner� and �Rockin� the Suburbs� by Ben Folds Five & Ben Folds respectively; �Pressure Chief� and �Motorcade of Generosity,� �Cake; �Clandestino� �-Manu Chao; �Dial-a-Song�--TMBG; �Goldfly� �Parachute� �Lost and Gone Forever� and �Keep it Together��Guster; �Debut� �Post� and �greatest Hits� �Bjork; �Bajo Fondo Tango Club�; �Maybe you Should Drive��Barenaked Ladies; �Greatest Hits� Red Hot Chili Peppers; �The Best of R.E.M� �R.E.M; �Figure 8� �XO� and �Either / Or� �Elliott Smith; �Have you Fed the Fish� �One Plus One is One� �The Hour of Bewilderbeast��Badly Drawn Boy; �Final Straw��Snow Patrol; �Grace��Jeff Buckley; �Franz Ferdinand��Franz Ferdinand; �On My Way� & �Sha Sha� �Ben Kweller; �Good News for People who Love Bad News� �Modest Mouse; �O� -- Damien Rice

Accomplishments:
• I�m in the best shape I�ve ever been in. Tuesday morning, I ran 3.5 miles. Granted, they were imaginary miles, since they were on a treadmill�but still. That�s not bad. I�m still going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, and eating fairly healthy stuff.
• I beat Hillary in Scrabble last February.
• Mastered the public transportation system of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Oh Bus number 132, how I love thee.
• Reading NAFS-or-TTTGW out loud without laughing or crying.
• wrote a personal statement that might not suck enough to get me into graduate school, I�ll tell you how it works out.
• Picked out something to do after graduation.

Assorted good things::
• Every beautiful, exciting, or interesting thing I saw or experienced while abroad. There are too many to list.
• The new beau & new friends I made since coming back�-you were right, everything did get better.
• The moment I started to like being in Buenos Aires.
• The fact that the Roger & Emily experiment didn�t crash and burn�quite the opposite, actually!
• I like everyone I work with.

Shittiness:
• Returning from Buenos Aires, and seeing home had changed without me.
• Breaking up with Joe wasn�t really much fun, and my best friend moving away was really sad, but what made it truly terrible is that Joe�s exit, plus Hillary�s relocation kind of shook up my support system. This bullet point would be more aptly labeled �investing my whole life in two people, one of them being a boyfriend.�
• Gaining so much weight, and being so godawful annoying about it. I know it shouldn�t matter, but it makes me feel shitty about myself and all failurey.
• There was a lot of cynicism, misanthropy, and self-loathing in the Spring and Summer.
• Missing Springtime.
• My inability to overcome my super-gringa accent.

Illness and Injury of 2004: Aside from the minor stress fractures in my legs and a few shaving nicks, 2004 was a year of superior health.

Most likely Cause of Death in 2005 based on stupidity of 2004: Being hit by a car while dashing across a busy street, or perhaps spacing out and wrecking my own car.

Best purchase of the year: Aside from my trip abroad, I�m going to have to go with my new running shoes. Oh the podiatric ecstasy.

Most Craptastic movies I saw in 2004: Troy, No Rest for the Brave, The Day After Tomorrow (My initial stance of non-hatred of this movie was probably due to a strong hunger for some mindless entertainment in English).

Enjoyable movies I saw in 2004: �Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,� �Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,� �Shrek 2,� �Return of the King,� �Big Fish.�

Alcoholic beverage of the year: In Buenos Aires: Cerveza Quilmes or Vino tinto Lopez. En los Estados Unidos: Black Russian when we�re being fancy or the good ole� reliable Rum and Coke.

Best meal of the year: Sushi with Simon the Brit at the Itamae in Puerto Madero. It was orgasmic. First runner up: The quarto of ice cream I had at my goodbye party: 1/3 Dark Chocolate, 1/3 Chocolate with Rochet, and 1/3 Coconut ice cream.

Villians of 2004: The Canadian Lady who lived in my house in BsAs, Dr. Phil, whoever stole my wallet, and everyone who made getting a visa a royal pain in the ass.

Heroes of 2004: Hillary, who has the title for life. Roger, for being Roger. �LeeboZeebo� for being my penpal when I was far away. Kristen, for integrating my back into the socially active universe upon my return to native soil.

Well, okay. I�m sure I missed a lot, but I�m tired of writing, and you�re probably tired of reading. 2004 was, like every other year, one of ups and downs�go figure. So here�s to �05 not sucking. Cheers! Happy New Year, everyone!